The NDA-led Opposition today revived their campaign against the Manmohan Singh Government’s ‘tainted’ ministers over the alleged disappearance of Coal Minister Shibu Soren after a Jharkhand court issued non-bailable warrants against him in a 30-year-old murder case.
Referring to a query about Soren’s absence in the Lok Sabha, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said there was ‘‘no provision’’ for a Cabinet ministers to take leave from the Lok Sabha. Chatterjee said: ‘‘There is no system of taking leave…There is no no provision for grant of leave…Though I behave like a headmaster, I am not a headmaster.’’
The Rajya Sabha witnessed chaotic scenes as BJP members forced an adjournment. The issue popped up when Congress member from Rajasthan Yamuna Devi Barupal abruptly left the House to avoid raising a question marked against her name relating to Soren’s ministry. This gave the Opposition an opportunity to pounce over the Soren-warrant issue.